Coney Island - Independent Rides

Throughout the decades Coney Island has offered the public innumerable rides and attractions
to entertain them. While some of the first were just steam operated carousels and the forerunners
of the roller coaster, mere primitive switchback railroads, soon clever inventors rented empty
plots of sand along popular streets to install their latest creations. These rides, carried
passengers high into the air, spun them around in moving tubs, carried them into dark scenic
tunnels, scared them on roller coaster's steep drops, made them laugh in walk-thru fun houses,
and bumped and jostled them in steerable Dodgem' cars. It was cheap fun and simple entertainment
for people of all ages. The rides were everywhere and most charged only a nickel or a dime.

People, who have read articles about the establishment at the turn of the century of Coney
Island's three great amusement parks, Steeplechase, Luna Park and Dreamland, assume that nearly
all of the area's rides and attractions were located within. They are mistaken. The acreage that
the three parks occupied in what was considered the amusement area between West 5th to West 18th
Streets, and from the Beach to perhaps a block north of Surf Avenue, was at the most about 20-25%
of the land; much less after Dreamland burned in 1911. Granted many of the lots were occupied by
bathhouses, small hotels, beer halls, restaurants and other assorted businesses, but there was
plenty of room for more than a half dozen roller coasters and the numerous other rides that were
clustered along Surf Avenue, the Bowery and side streets leading to the beach. These smaller
rides are hard to chronicle because except for the carousels and Skooter rides, they didn't need
a permanent structure. Most were transitory and often owned by different people from season to
season. Operators erected them on a rented lot in the spring and dismantled them at the end of
the season. Sometimes they remained in the same location for years, but when they lost their
popularity they were replaced by a newer more exciting and novel rides.

Perhaps the biggest reason for their success outside of the three enclosed established parks
was the sheer number of potential customers that came to the seashore on a busy summer weekend.
Two hundred thousand people came to Coney on weekends in 1905; 600,000 by 1915, and over a million
after the subway arrived in 1920. Most renting a bathing suit at a bathhouse went to the beach
part of the day, then afterwards tried their favorite roller coaster or other ride. Others
frequented the amusement parks which each attracted a different clientele.

Luna Park had the most to offer and was more than twice as large as its competition. While
it only cost a dime to enter the park and enjoy the free shows, rides were extra. Its managers
always tried to obtain the best and most innovative rides with lots of variety and thrills.
Dreamland too, charged for individual rides, but most of its attractions were shows or scenic
boat rides within buildings. Only its Chutes, Aerial Circle Swing, L.A. Thompson Scenic Railroad,
and perhaps Coasting Through Switzerland could be considered thrill rides. Steeplechase was
different because it offered a one-price combination ticket for all its attractions. But except
for its Ferris Wheel, Steeplechase Horses, one roller coaster, a Racing Derby and later a Bobsled
coaster and a Parachute ride, most of its attractions were of the fun house variety and housed
in a huge weather proof glass and steel Fun Pavilion.

Carousels

During the period from 1875 to 1900 when life was more genteel than after the turn of the century,
carousels were the dominant form of amusement ride. William Vandeveer, who owned several flourishing
bathhouses, bought Charles Looff's first carousel in 1875 for his Balmer's Bathing Pavilion located
on the beach at the foot of Ocean Parkway. Five years later when Charles Feltman's restaurant business
began to flourish, he built a cupolaed octagonal building adjacent to his Pavilion and installed
Looff's second menagerie machine at Coney Island. Both of the Looff machines had stationary horses.
Then sometime in the 1890's F.E. Bostock imported a Fredrick Savage English carousel. It featured
jumping horses and it rotated clockwise, English style.

Many of the carousels installed after the turn of the century were supplied
by the Mangels and Illions partnership. They worked from a nearby factory
where Illions carved the animals and Mangels built the mechanical framework
and power train. Their first endeavor, sold to Charles Feltman in 1903,
was lavish. The carved horses had stately, powerful poses, and rich, bejeweled
trappings gleaming with gold leaf and intense colors. The collaborated again
for a machine at Kister's Restaurant on Surf Avenue and another in 1908
for the lobby of the Hotel Eleanor at Stubbman's Beer Garden. A year later,
to celebrate his independence from Mangels, Illions refurbished the later
carousel's outer row of horses with ones featuring explosive flying manes
and powerful straining bodies.

While there were other independent carousels at Coney Island, perhaps the most beautiful
and spectacular was the El Dorado, a German manufactured machine installed in the old Johnstown
Flood Building at Surf Avenue and West 5th near Dreamland's entrance. It was build by Hugo
Hasse of Leipzig Germany and imported by John Jurgens in 1910 at a cost of $150,000. He had
to pay more than $30,000 in customs fees. It was installed in a Pavilion with 6000 lamps and
a gigantic band organ. The menagerie machine contained three platforms, arranged in ascending
tiers, each revolving at different speeds. Its crown-like canopy rose to a height of 42 feet.
It featured horses, pigs and other barnyard animals. It barely survived the 1911 Dreamland
fire where the heat was so intense that the animal's paint blistered. George Tilyou salvaged
it and placed it within his glass enclosed Pavilion of Fun the following year.

The El Dorado Carousel was a three-tiered machine. Each platform rotated
at different speeds.

Carousels soon became prolific around Coney Island. George Carmel built
a few but Illions built the most, more than a dozen of them, in the 1920's
alone. One was located in the Bobs Amusement Department Store on the Bowery
at Stillwell. Others were at the Prospect Hotel and on Surf Avenue at W
5th and on Surf Avenue across from Steeplechase. After the Depression began
and operators could afford new machines, Illions went bankrupt and closed
his factory. Still during the Depression, when rides were a nickel, thirteen
were operating at Coney Island. Today only one carousel remains at Coney
Island, the B & B merry-go-round. The George Carmel / Murphy & Nunnally
machine has been operating on Surf Avenue and W. 10th Street since it was
moved there in 1932.

Roller Coasters - 1884 - 1907

The world's first roller coaster, an invention of La Marcus Thompson, debuted at Coney Island
on June 13, 1884. Passengers rode a train on undulating tracks over a wooden structure 600 feet long.
The train started at a height of 50 feet on one end and ran downhill by gravity until its momentum
died. Passengers then left the train and
attendants pushed the car over a switch to a higher level. The passengers returned to their sideways
facing seats and rode back to the original starting point. Admission on the tame Thompson Switchback
Railway was five cents and Thompson grossed an average of $600 / day.

Improvements to the roller coaster came rapidly. The following year Alcoke tied the track
together at the ends to enable passengers to return to their starting point without the need to
disembark while the car was placed on the return track. Alcoke's Serpentine Railroad was slow and
took several minutes to complete its circuit.

Another important advance was made at Coney Island in 1885 by Philip Hinkle. He was the first
to use a hoist to pull the cars to the top of a precipitous hill. The higher hill meant faster
speeds. It was the first to offer forward facing passengers thrills with mild undulations instead
of a tour of the countryside.

La Marcus Thompson returned to Coney Island in 1887 after perfecting his Scenic Railroad at
Atlantic City, New Jersey. He added tunnels, caves and a grotto which featured illuminated scenes.
Steam powered his lift hill. The ride was especially popular with young couples could sneak a
quick embrace and sometimes a kiss in the
darkened tunnels.

The LA Thompson Switchback Railway

Thompson built other scenic railways, one for George Tilyou at Steeplechase Park, and another
in 1901 on Surf Avenue near what would become Luna Park's entrance. His Oriental Scenic Railway
featured exotic Asian scenery in its tunnels. Although the ride was considered old fashioned, it
achieved renewed popularity after 1924 due to its proximity to Luna's more thrilling Mile Sky
Chaser which always had long lines.

Looping roller coasters, considered a daredevil ride to the throngs of spectators, debuted
at Coney Island in 1895. Lina Beecher's wooden Flip Flap at Sea Lion Park was the first, but the
most dangerous. Two passenger cars, descending from a high lift hill, flipped passengers upside
down through a small 25 foot diameter circular loop. Its flaw was that its high G-forces sometimes
whiplashed, even snapped passenger's necks. Besides it never made much money since park visitors
were too timid to ride the contraption. By 1901 when the rival Loop the Loop steel coaster opened
on Surf Avenue at West 10th Street, inventor Edward Prescott solved the problem. His use of an
elliptical loop eliminated the strains on passengers's necks. However, despite charging admission
to watch, it too wasn't successful in generating much revenue because it could only carry four
passengers every five minutes.

During the next half dozen years small roller coasters began to spring up on numerous vacant
lots along Surf Avenue and The Bowery. Rocky Road to Dublin on Surf Avenue between W. 5th & 8th
Streets and Rough Riders on the Bowery at Jones Walk were both 3rd Rail electric powered coasters.
A motorman could apply power both uphill and downhill but had to be careful when rounding turns.
One reckless operator in 1910 drove the Rough Rider's coaster train too fast on a turn one night
and pitched 16 people in two cars from the top of a 60 foot peak. Incredibly only four of them died.

Thompson in 1906 built a scenic railroad on Surf Avenue east of Dreamland called Pikes Peak
Railroad. It burned in the Dreamland fire. Another scenic railroad, but entirely indoors, was the
Deep Rift Coal Mine Scenic Railroad located next to Luna's entrance on Surf Avenue. Passengers
rode in coal mine cars and slowly descended from the lift hill in this gravity ride. The cars passed
illuminated life size figures of miners, work animals and machinery that showed the operation of
the mine. It debuted in 1906 but was removed the following year when Luna's Surf Avenue entrance
was enlarged.

Probably the Cannon Coaster built in 1902 at Henderson's Walk and the Boardwalk was the most
steeped in legend. Its designers originally attempted to have the cars leap over a gap in the
tracks. At its apex it entered the breech of a large wooden cannon and as it passed through
its bore, it accelerated downward. As the train shot out of the cannon's mouth it was supposed
to leap a gap in the tracks. They tested the idea with sandbags instead of people, but it didn't
work because variations in the passenger's weight or uneven loads sometimes caused crashes.
They filled in the gap in this boring ride, but it still drew crowds because stories still
circulated of innumerable casualties during its gap-in-the-track test runs.

Towers & Ferris Wheels

Attractions that offered visitors panoramic views of Coney Island were popular at or before
the turn of the century. Andrew Culver in 1877 bought the 300 foot tall Iron Tower from the
Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and erected in at Coney Island inland from his Iron Pier.
It had two steam elevators to whisk tourists to the top where they could use a telescope to
see 40 miles out to sea.

In 1893 when George Tilyou gazed at the newly invented 250 foot diameter
Ferris Wheel at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, he knew he had
to purchase it. He watched visitors jaws drop and eyes pop as they stared
at the enormous wheel with its 36 cars, each accommodating 60 passengers.
The huge wheel, and invention of a mechanical engineering graduate from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, offered people high panoramic views of
the fair as it slowly rotated. Unfortunately this money maker had already
been sold to the promoter of the St Louis World's Fair to be held in 1904.

George borrowed money and purchased a smaller half sized 125 foot diameter wheel from
the Pennsylvania Steel Company, with 12 cars each holding 18 passengers. When he returned
from Chicago he leased a plot of land at the Bowery and W. 5th?? Street near the Iron Tower
and erected a sign that read "On This Site Will Be Erected the World's Largest Ferris Wheel."
On the strength of this "whopper", George was able to sell enough concession space around
the wheel to pay for its delivery during the spring of 1884. Once it was erected and covered
with hundreds of incandescent lights, it immediately became the biggest attraction at Coney Island.

The Wonder Wheel was unique because the cars slid from the inner wheel to the
outer wheel and back. - 1930's

While Ferris Wheels have always been popular, one of the most innovative was the Wonder Wheel
invented by Charles Herman and erected by Herman Garms in 1920. Its unusual design incorporated
sections of curved tracks connecting the 135 feet diameter outer wheel and a smaller inner wheel.
When the wheel revolved, the tracks inclined and the 16 suspended cars, each seating four people,
rolled back and forth between the two wheels. There were also eight stationary cars. The ride
length was two revolutions, and counting the loading and unloading of passengers it took seven
minutes. After the elder Herman died in 1935, his son Fred operated it until 1983 when it was
sold to Denos Vourderis. It still operates today just off the boardwalk at Astroland.

Water Rides

The second biggest attraction at Coney Island at the turn of the century was Sea Lion's
Shoot-the-Chutes toboggan water slide that debuted in 1895. A carefully contoured curved lip
at the bottom of the slide shoot the down rushing craft high into the air so that it performed
a series of skips and hops across the lagoon. It was a thrilling climax since the boat's
impacts heaved passengers from their seats and immediately thumped them down again. Its
success inspired other rides. S.E. Jackman built a ride called Shooting the Rapids which
he installed behind the Iron Tower in 1898. It was a combination of coaster and chute that
after rolling through dips and curves, slid into a small pool. It was never popular because
it lacked any thrill.

While Luna Park found success with its more exciting Mountain Torrent it wasn't until
1920 that an independent operator would try again with a water flume ride called Riding the
Rapids. It was located on the Bowery at Stratton's Walk. A more successful and popular ride
in the mid-1930's was the Chutes (Mill Chutes??) on Surf Avenue adjoining the Wildcat roller
coaster. Passengers enjoyed a two minute ride in the dark before their boat went up a ramp.
It then plunged down a short 20 foot high slide.

Old Mill boat rides at the turn of the century were very popular especially with young
couples. While a slow boat ride through a tunnel past exotic scenery on a simulated river
flowing at 1-2 MPH sounds boring, it was one of the few places in those uptight post Victorian
times where a couple riding in a two passenger boat, could experience intimacy and sneak a
quick kiss away from their parent's or chaperons's prying eyes. The Old Mill, invented by
George W. Schofield in 1902, was a vast improvement upon earlier rides with its use of a
large paddle wheel, instead of banks of propellers along the course to keep the water
flowing. Schofield also added dark tunnels with weird scenery calculated to startle the
riders in the boats as they slowly drifted by. The ride later became known as Tunnels of Love.

Occasionally the Coney Island entrepreneurs appealed too directly to the spooning (petting)
instinct of their customers. One such case
involved a gravity cart ride through a darkened tunnel. To stimulate interest, the owner named
the ride the Love Nest and installed a rather graphic yet heroic paper-mache sculpture called
the Fallen Angel at its entrance. It depicted three nude girls, tinted pink in the Raphael
manner. One girl lay on the ground, indicating her fall from grace, while her companions gazed
down with pity. The ride did fantastic business until the police, who had rather parochial taste
in art, insisted that the angels be clothed. Business quickly dwindled for this rather boring dark ride.

Dreamland Site - After 1911 fire

After Dreamland burned in 1911, Samuel Gumpertz attempted to lease the land to rebuild. The
owners were intent on selling most of the property to the city so Gumpertz only managed to lease
a strip 300 feet deep along Surf Avenue. There he set up his Dreamland Circus Sideshow, Karlo's
Wild West Show, and Omar Sami's Seven-in-one freak show. Captain Ferarri and Jack Bonavita ran
a Wild Animal show featuring their surviving seven lions and their newly born three cubs. They
also showcased a stable of performing ponies. In 1916 Gumpertz would add the Eden Musee wax show
and still later in 1920, a wax exhibit featuring the New York Underworld.

The large area also accommodated a number of independent rides. Johnson, who lost his
carousel in the fire, bought a new carousel built by E.C. Smith and set it up there. A
Tickler, Turkey Trot, and Phantom Cascade also were set up during the 1912 season. The later
was a variation of the Old Mill ride.

Roller Coasters - Middle Years 1907-1921

Roller coaster design progressed rapidly as designers patented safety innovations
that would enable cars to survive steep drops and subsequent higher speeds without
jumping the track or ejecting passengers from their seats to their early deaths.
The lap bar prevented passengers from falling out of the cars, the under-wheel
prevented the trains from leaving the tracks during periods of negative G's as
they rounded tops of hills, and the ratchet chain prevented cars from slipping
backwards while going up the lift hill if power failed.

When Chris Feucht built his Drop the Dips coaster on the Bowery at W. 15th Street in
1907, it created a sensation. It had four passenger toboggan like cars and some of the
steepest drops of a coaster to that date. It opened on June 6, 1907 but only lasted 31
days when it burned when the Steeplechase fire consumed part of the Bowery. Since Feucht
felt that his first design was too conservative, he added scarier features when he rebuilt
the ride. The result was long lines of paying customers and many requesting re-rides. It
was considered the first modern high-speed roller coaster and Feucht invented the lap bar
to keep passengers from flying out of his cars. It was best remembered for its savage
hills and turns.

It may be hard to believe, but Feucht in 1915 within a 24 hour period moved his ride
across the street to avoid a rent raise. The coaster was moved again in January 1924 by
Jarvis and 100 workers to make way for the widening of the Bowery to improve fire fighting
access there.

Other less thrilling roller coasters that opened during the 1907 and 1908 seasons
were the Ben Hur Race, a third rail electric?? on Surf Avenue, the Red Devil Rider on
the Bowery and Ziz Mile Minute at Feltman's. The Ziz ran through a grove of trees on
the Feltman property, but with few drops it wasn't very exciting nor popular.

Jackman built his Great Whirlwind ride on Surf Avenue opposite the Culver Depot in 1910.
After it burned during the Dreamland fire, he built a better one called Jackman's Thriller on the
Bowery south of Thompson's Walk.

During the spring of 1911 Jarvis was busy constructing the Giant Racer, a steel racing coaster,
on Surf Avenue and W. End Street when the adjacent Dreamland fire consumed the park. Fortunately
his coaster was unfinished and mostly steel so that its only damage was to railroad ties placed
to anchor the track. The 900 foot long, two tracked marvel cost $180,000 to build. Since it didn't
quite front on Surf Avenue, the owner decided to move it in 1915. It was placed on rollers and
its entrance was moved 70 feet closer to Surf Avenue. Revenue increased $3,700 the year after
the move. The coaster lasted until 1926 with only one major accident. That occurred the first
summer when the train left the tracks on a curve 50 feet above Surf Avenue. Two woman were killed.

One final roller coaster was built in 1921 prior to the Golden Age of Coasters. It was the
Big Dipper and it stood on the site of Thompson's Switchback Railroad just east of the Giant
Racer. New owners renamed it the Wildcat in 1934 and the christened it the Comet the following year.

Automobile, Water Skooter &
Horse Racing Style Rides

During the dawn of the automobile age everyone had an intense desire to ride in one, even
drive one if they could. Since it was an expensive rich man's toy during the century's first
decade, inventors sought to fulfill the demand with ingenious amusement rides. One of the first
attractions in 1906 was Neville's Automobile Railroad at Henderson Walk and the Bowery. It was
a roller coaster in which passengers rode in imitation automobiles along an undulating track.
Like a roller coaster it was a gravity ride and the cars were automatically steered by a central
guide rail.

While automobiles were too expensive to chance collisions with novice drivers, other entrepreneurs sought to thrill automobile riders by offering them the experience of narrow escapes from accidents. One of the most ambitious attempt was by A.G Reynolds who first experimented with his Auto Maze ride at Ocean Park, California in 1912. After his ride burned during Fraser's Million Dollar Pier fire, he built a duplicate ride at Coney Island the following year.

It was set up in a covered space 175 feet long by 50 feet wide. Two tracks were
laid out so that they crisscrossed repeatedly. Twenty full size automobiles, ten
on each track, each without motors accommodated the passengers. The cars, which
traveled at a speed of five miles per hour, were propelled along the tracks by
two moving chains in the slotted conduits. Using an ingenious mechanism, the moving
chains caused one car to cross in front of another every ten seconds. When everything
went right, the cars missed each other by mere inches. To heighten the excitement
Reynolds' enclosed the area with large plate glass mirrors, eight feet high to
reflect the moving automobiles from hundreds of different angles. Riders became
bewildered and confused as automobiles, both real and reflected, came at them
from many different directions.

Reynolds, however, couldn't get the ride to work quite right. The complicated chain mechanism frequently failed to function properly and real collisions took place. Low speeds, however, prevented any serious injuries. Reynolds fine tuned it for weeks, then shut it down for long periods while he overhauled and experimented. He finally abandoned it when he failed to perfect the mechanism.

Would be drivers really wanted to experience the thrill of steering their own vehicles. One of the most popular rides at Luna was the Witching Waves beginning in 1907. It was invented by Theophilius Van Kennel and installed on the Bowery in 1910. It consisted of a large oval course with a flexible metal floor whose hidden reciprocating levers could induce a moving wave-like motion. While the actual floor didn't move, the continuously moving wave propelled two seated small scooter-like cars forward while patrons steered.

The Witching Waves along the Bowery.

Other inventors felt that they could improve upon this concept if they could provide
internal power to these small cars and prevent injuries by surrounding them with rubber
bumpers. Two men, John Stock and Max Stoehrer, each developed nearly identical rides using
electric propelled circular shaped cars. Each operated on a metal floor and received power
through contact with an electrically charged mesh ceiling via a long contact trolley pole.
Stock's Gadabout debuted at Coney in 1919 while Stoehrer's Dodge'em rides became initially
popular at both Luna and Steeplechase. Eventually other operators would install Dodge'em
rides on the Bowery in the late 20's and Stock's improved Skooter bumper car ride at Jones
Walk. The fun was in the ability to steer the car and deliberately collide safely with
other driver's cars.

The same electrical power principal was applied to boats. These rides, often called
water skooters, obtained power for their propellers via contact with an electrically
charged overhead mesh and the boat's spring loaded trolley pole. Despite what you might
think, the ride was perfectly safe, although it was hard to get the customers to steer
their boats to the side when their time was up. A Skoota boat ride was installed on the
Bowery near the Wonder Wheel in 1934. A Dodge'em Boat Ride was installed in the Lido Pool
along the Boardwalk at 15th Street
in 1936.

Illions, the carousel manufacturer, in 1927 attempted to improve on Prior and Church's
Racing Derby, a carousel style horse racing ride that merely went in circles. He designed
a $25,000 ride for the old Prospect Hotel site where galloping horses raced around a 1200
foot long odd shaped track. The horses rode on wheels powered by electric motors along a
guided track. Their speed was controlled by an operator's rheostat who was hidden from
view. The horses raced at 15 MPH along open stretches, around banked turns and through tunnels.

Miniature automobiles running along a fixed guided courses became popular once
inventors figured out how to power them. Custer developed his battery powered Custer
Cars in 1925. While they became popular at Luna Park where they had a large area to
operate, independent operators didn't install these style rides until after Mangel's
Coney Car eliminated the need for batteries by providing 3rd rail power. Later small
gasoline engines installed in the miniature autos made it much more
feasible for operators. There was a Race Track ride on Surf Avenue in 1930 and Motor
Races located on the Bowery and W. 16th in 1940.

Roller Coasters - Golden Age 1920's

The golden age of roller coaster design was in the mid-1920's. Many of Coney's old
side friction out and back roller coasters were
replaced by coasters with tight twisting layouts. While it was often expensive to replace
a money-making roller coaster, the widening of Coney's streets during the winter of
1923-24 hastened the choice as many owners with rides on small lots were forced to either
move them or tear them down. Jackman's Thriller and the Ben Hur Race on Surf Avenue were
demolished. The legendary Drop the Dips was jacked up on rollers and moved by one hundred
workers in January 1924. The Bowery's Red Devil somehow survived for at least two more
summer seasons.

Change was inevitable as designers went higher and faster. The challenge at Coney was
designing a coaster for its small lots. Perhaps the biggest challenge was for a narrow lot
at Henderson Walk and the Bowery that was only 70 feet at its widest and tapered to 50 feet.
Roller coaster designer Fred Church had experience designing tight twisting, narrow layouts
for amusement piers in California. Still the lot was too narrow on one end, but luckily he
was able to design a five foot overhang on Henderson Walk. The 71 foot high ride cost $250,000
when it opened on Memorial Day 1926. Fortunately it earned $300 / hour at least until the
Depression. It was a spectacular thriller with an exciting opening 55 foot spiral drop, tight
turns and crossovers followed by additional drops that only Prior and Church's articulated cars
with their three point suspension could negotiate.

The builder incorporated an Amusement Park Department Store into the Bob's little used
ground floor space. Its opening season attractions included a Illions Carousel. a bathhouse
for 500 bathers, a shooting gallery, a glass and wax house, a Bug House, and Charles Browning's
laughing mirror show. And to make an architectural statement, they built a 100 feet high tower
that was covered with 25,000 four-inch diameter glass jewels. The jewels sparkled when they
were lit up by powerful searchlights at night and could be seen for miles.

The second of the new generation of roller coasters was the 86 foot high Miller
designed Thunderbolt located on the Bowery at Stillwell Avenue. The owner George
Moran asked Miller to incorporate part of the existing two story Kensington Hotel
in its design. The top story of the hotel was removed and the coaster's beams
became part of the house's structure. The house became famous in the movie Annie
Hall. The Woody Allen character lived there and there would be periodic shaking
of the furniture and china when the coaster passed overhead on the track.

In early 1927 Jack and Irving Rosenthal acquired a 19 year lease on the 75 x 500 foot site
where the Giant Racer stood at Surf Avenue and W. End Street. They tore down the old coaster and
hired Vernon Keenan to design the finest roller coaster in the world at a cost of $100,000. It
would require 233,000 feet of lumber, 240 tons of steel and 96,000 rivets. Harry C. Baker was
in charge of construction, but ran into trouble when a series of windstorms lashed the island
that spring. It was a heroic effort and although they were six weeks behind schedule, the
coaster opened on June 26, 1927. It was a fast twisting 85 feet tall roller coaster with a
first drop of 53 degrees that accelerated the train through its 2640 feet of steeply banked
figure eight style turns. The ride was a masterpiece of sustained terrifying fun. It was so
successful at 25 cents / ride that it returned its initial investment within several weeks.

The ride remained successful until the Rosenthal Brothers took over management of New
Jersey's Palisades Park in 1934. Afterwards, through lack of maintenance, the coaster became
rougher and produced more and more customer bruises. Attendance was down and the structure
needed prompt repair when Chris Feucht was induced out of retirement in 1937.

Feucht redesigned many of the Cyclone's feature's, but was nearly killed during early
repairs. While working on the chain lift of the first hill, he was caught from behind by an
empty train and dragged up the tracks under the first car. He hung on as best he could while
his head kept bumping against the wooden cleats of the catwalk. He was only eight seconds
from going over the top and down the 80 foot drop when the man at the brake levers on the
ground realized that something was wrong and shut off the power. When Feucht felt the train
stop and realized he was saved, he passed out cold.

Coney's new coasters, the Thunderbolt, Tornado (Bobs) and the Cyclone became so popular
with Coney's enormous summer weekend crowds that lines reached three to five hours long. With
rerides permissible, lines barely moved. During July heat waves, tempers flared, and when the
foolish dared cut in line, several murders were recorded.

Fun Houses

On the opposite end of the excitement spectrum were Coney Island's numerous fun houses
and dark rides. The earliest was Katzenjammer's Castle located on the Bowery in 1906. It was
the standard walk-thru fun house with slides, a mirror maze, rotating barrels, moving floors
and mirrors that distorted one's appearance. Another described in 1920 (location??) had a
lobby that lead to a Mystic Tunnel with its moving floor, hot air blowers and other fun
devices. Patrons exited the building via a novel down and out slide. Another popular
mechanical fun house was Over the Falls on Surf Avenue next to Luna Park in 1924. Sometimes
a slide became a ride itself. At Jack and Jill in 1927, customers sitting on mats were
automatically taken to the top of the tall slide by conveyor and dumped into the mouth
of the spiral slide. At the bottom a belt caught the passengers and slowed them down to
a gentle stop.

Jack & Jill Slide. - 1928

One operator combined the successful concept of a wax museum with the tracked dark ride.
The Slums of Paris was located in the Gordon Building on Surf Avenue in 1929. It featured a
replica Paris bar with underworld wax figures. Patrons rode in tracked cars that encircled
the setting.

After Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs movie debuted, the Gold Mine dark ride
on Surf Avenue in 1939 featured a front panorama depicting the characters from the movie.
Sixteen cars were electrically driven through a 600 foot long tunnel.

During the 1940's there was a Fun in the Dark and Tunnel of Fun dark rides. Others
operated the Laff-Laff, a fun house style maze on Surf Avenue and a Crazy Castle and Goofy
House, both walk-thru style fun houses.

Kiddie Rides

As Coney's attractions became more thrilling, ride operators saw an increasing demand
for kiddie rides to entertain youngsters. One of the first to devote an entire area to
children's rides was Mooney's Kiddie Playground in 1925. It was located on W. 8th Street
and it featured a see-saw, Ferris wheel, swan, coaster, whirlover, whip, carousel, railroad,
and aeroplane, all miniature. He also had three clowns and offered a 35 cent combo ticket.

McCullough operated a pony track directly across from Luna Park and the L.A. Thompson
Company installed a kiddie coaster. By 1930 even the Rosenthal Brothers set up a kiddie park
next to their Cyclone roller coaster.

Feltman's devoted considerable space to kiddie rides after World War II. There was a
Pinto Brothers' designed Fire Engine and Aeroplane,
an Allan Herschel Little Dipper coaster, Horse and Buggy, and a water boat ride manufactured
by Marcraft.

Miniature Railroads

Cagney Brothers, New York City manufacturers, were the biggest suppliers of miniature railroads
to Coney Island. These ranged from tiny kid sized miniatures to larger models capable of carrying
dozens of adults in its flatbed cars. While few lots outside Luna, Steeplechase and Dreamland could
accommodate them, Feltman's installed one in their garden. Later they would appear in small versions
at Coney's various kiddie parks. After World War II a Hollywood Super Chief operated at Feltman's.

Flat Rides

The ride operator's cheapest investment, a mere few thousand dollars, was the so called "flat
ride." Generally they featured two seated cars or trains of cars that ran around a small circular
or oval track and since they were very compact in size they could be accommodated on numerous small
lots along Surf Avenue, the Bowery or along the numerous side streets that ran from the subway
and trolley terminals to the boardwalk and beach.

One of the first of these innovative rides was the Whip, invented by William Mangels in 1914.
The ride was mounted on an oblong platform with two large motor driven discs, mounted flush with
the floor, on both ends. A dozen cars were attached by flexible arms to a moving cable that
wrapped around and connected the two discs. When the cars reached the curved ends of the
course, they swung out on the flexible arms and suddenly snapped back, giving the rider the
thrilling sensation of being on the end of a snapped whip. Whips were installed both on the
Bowery and along Surf Avenue at Kister's.

Inventor Maynes' Caterpillar flat ride debuted on the Bowery in 1925. A train of two-seated
cars sped around a circular undulating track. It was popular among romantically inclined couples
because when it reached its maximum speed, the canopy automatically closed to give privacy. When
all the canopies were closed, the train looked like a rapidly moving green caterpillar.

Other flat rides operating that year included the Hey-dey, Joy Ride and Scrambler. The later
was a fun adventuresome ride. A dozen or more cushioned tubs mounted on castors were placed
into a revolving bowl. The opposing gravitational and centrifugal forces did the scrambling
and left passengers dizzy.

An independent operator in 1928 bought Traver's newest creation, the Tumblebug and placed
it on Surf Avenue where the Ben Hur once stood. It was an interesting family oriented ride.
A train of five connected saucers, each holding half a dozen people moved around a circular
but undulating track. Passengers held on to the central grip wheel to avoid being knocked into
strangers seated next to them.

During the 1940's a new ride called the Cuddle-Up by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company
debuted on W. 12th Street. Circular cars operated over a serpentine course and the movement
was controlled by a series of revolving discs.

Aerial Rides

While aerial rides like the Traver and Uzzell Circle Swings had always been
popular since Coney's earliest days, visitors during the 1930's expected and demanded
greater thrills. In 1935 the Eyerly Aircraft Company debuted the Loop-o-plane.
Two riders sat strapped in, back to back, in a pair of cars with an open canopy.
A motor would set the cars attached at the end of a long rigid beam rocking back
and forth until they eventually reached vertical and began rotating or looping
continuously in one direction.

The Loop-O-Plane. - 1930's

Other aerial rides during the late 1930's and the 1940's included the Sky Diver, Hurricane,
Air-o-bat, Lindy Loop, Roll-o-plane and Looper. The Hi-Ball, located on the Bowery, was novel in
that while its eight two-seated cars rotated around the tower, the tower began extending upward
52 feet. A Rocket ride located on Surf Avenue at W. 8th revolved on a 45 degree incline at a
thrilling 65 MPH.

To achieve a real sense of flying the rider wanted some sense of control. The
Flying Scooter, owned by Krantz at Surf Avenue and W. 6th, featured nine flying
craft with steerable sails that were suspended on cables. As the craft circled
the tower, it could be controlled to rise quickly and then by shifting the sail,
it would dive suddenly giving an exhilarating thrill as the cables made a snapping
sound. Another exciting ride was the Spitfire. The planes traveled in a circle
inclined at a 45 degree angle to the center pole. Passengers could with a control
stick move the plane's ailerons to make the plane barrel-roll while flying in
circular formation.

NOTE: This article is based on my incomplete and inaccurate ride list. While I
skipped many rides, I choose to write about rides that I knew how they worked.
I welcome any amusement park historians or Coney Island enthusiasts to add to
or correct my errors. Please E-Mail or write to Jeffrey Stanton 12525 Allin St.
Los Angeles, California 90066